| Dr Beyers Naudé | |
| Settlement Type: | Local municipality |
| Coordinates: | -32.248°N 24.535°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | South Africa |
| Subdivision Type1: | Province |
| Subdivision Name1: | Eastern Cape |
| Subdivision Type2: | District |
| Subdivision Name2: | Sarah Baartman |
| Seat: | Graaff-Reinet |
| Parts Type: | Wards |
| Parts: | 14 |
| Government Footnotes: | [1] |
| Government Type: | Municipal council |
| Leader Party: | DA |
| Leader Title: | Mayor |
| Leader Name: | Ewald Loock |
| Leader Title1: | Speaker |
| Leader Name1: | Laughton Hoffman (CSA) |
| Area Total Km2: | 28653 |
| Population Total: | 79291 |
| Population As Of: | 2011 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Demographics Type1: | Racial makeup (2011) |
| Demographics1 Title1: | Black African |
| Demographics1 Info1: | 23.6% |
| Demographics1 Title2: | Coloured |
| Demographics1 Info2: | 66.9% |
| Demographics1 Title3: | Indian/Asian |
| Demographics1 Info3: | 0.4% |
| Demographics1 Title4: | White |
| Demographics1 Info4: | 8.7% |
| Demographics Type2: | First languages (2011) |
| Demographics2 Title1: | Afrikaans |
| Demographics2 Info1: | 80.3% |
| Demographics2 Title2: | Xhosa |
| Demographics2 Info2: | 14.8% |
| Demographics2 Title3: | English |
| Demographics2 Info3: | 3.2% |
| Demographics2 Title4: | Other |
| Demographics2 Info4: | 1.7% |
| Timezone1: | SAST |
| Utc Offset1: | +2 |
| Blank Name Sec1: | Municipal code |
| Blank Info Sec1: | EC101 |
Dr Beyers Naudé Municipality (Afrikaans: Dr Beyers Naudé Munisipaliteit; Xhosa: uMasipala wase Dr Beyers Naudé) is a local municipality within the Sarah Baartman District Municipality, in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. The municipality was established by merging the Camdeboo, Ikwezi and Baviaans local municipalities. The decision to merge the municipalities was taken by the Municipal Demarcation Board in 2015 but only took effect after municipal elections on 3 August 2016. The new municipality is named after the Afrikaner cleric and anti-apartheid activist Beyers Naudé.[2] Its seat is in Graaff-Reinet. The merger was motivated by political interests because the ruling party, the African National Congress, was losing support in the area. One of the municipalities, Baviaans, was already governed by the opposition Democratic Alliance.
The new municipality covers an area of at the western end of the Eastern Cape province, from the Sneeuberge in the north to the Baviaanskloof in the south. It is a sparsely populated area, with a population of 79,291 giving a density of only .[3]
80.3% of residents of the municipality speak Afrikaans as their home language, while 14.8% speak Xhosa and 3.2% speak English. 66.9% described themselves as "Coloured", 23.6% as "Black African", and 8.7% as "White".
The principal town in the municipal area is Graaff-Reinet, with a population of approximately 35,000. Other towns include Willowmore, Aberdeen, Jansenville, Steytlerville and Klipplaat.
See main article: Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality elections. The municipal council consists of 24 members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. 12 councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in 12 wards, while the remaining 12 are chosen from party lists so that the total number of party representatives is proportional to the number of votes received. In the election of 1 November 2021 no party won a majority of seats on the council. On 23 November 2021, a DA-led coalition took control of the municipality.[4]
The following table shows the results of the election.[5]
| Dr Beyers Naudé local election, 1 November 2021 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Votes | Seats | ||||||
| Ward | List | Total | % | Ward | List | Total | ||
| 8,666 | 8,595 | 17,261 | 46.8% | 7 | 4 | 11 | ||
| 7,253 | 7,330 | 14,583 | 39.6% | 5 | 5 | 10 | ||
| 782 | 760 | 1,542 | 4.2% | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 656 | 675 | 1,331 | 3.6% | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 567 | 546 | 1,113 | 3.0% | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 180 | – | 180 | 0.5% | 0 | – | 0 | ||
| 3 other parties | 331 | 527 | 858 | 2.3% | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 18,435 | 18,433 | 36,868 | 12 | 12 | 24 | ||
| Valid votes | 18,435 | 18,433 | 36,868 | 98.3% | ||||
| Spoilt votes | 363 | 272 | 635 | 1.7% | ||||
| Total votes cast | 18,798 | 18,705 | 37,503 | |||||
| Voter turnout | 18,818 | |||||||
| Registered voters | 39,913 | |||||||
| Turnout percentage | 47.1% | |||||||